Phoenix (The Flash - Book 1) [RE-UPLOAD]

Chapter 6 - The Flash and Phoenix Are Born

To understand what I'm about to tell you, you need to do something first. You need to believe in the impossible, can you do that? Good. Because all of us, we have forgotten what miracles look like. Maybe because they haven't made much of an appearance lately. Our lives have become ordinary but there are people out there who are truly extraordinary. I don't know where you came from, I don't know your names but I have seen you do the impossible to protect the city I love. So for those of us who believe in you and what you're doing, I just wanna say: Thank you.

That was Iris' latest entry in her blog. I was reading it on my tablet as I followed Caitlin and Cisco out of the elevator as they continued their debate.

"Check the math. Your dispersal models don't correlate," Caitlin told him.

"Uh, they do if you factor in the seasonal fluctuations in reproduction cycles," Cisco countered.

"What exactly are we debating?" Wells asked.

I looked up from my tablet. "The average number of bugs Barry and I swallow in a day of running and flying."

"I look forward to seeing you accept your Nobel," Wells said with a nod.

When we entered the Cortex of S.T.A.R Labs, we found Barry lying on the floor, beaten.

"Barry?" I hurried over to him, putting my tablet by the computers and leaned down next to him. "Barry, are you okay?"

Barry winced in pain when I touched him and I gasped in concern.

------>

Barry was now out of his suit and lying on a bed, wearing a brace on his hand and forearm.

"Thirteen fractures," Caitlin told him. "That's a new record and that's just in your hand. You also have a concussion, three cracked ribs and a bruised spleen. Even with your powers, you'll need a few hours to heal."

"What exactly did you hit?" Wells asked.

"A man," Barry told me. "A big, bad man. His skin changed when I hit him. Like it turned to metal."

"Interesting," Wells crossed his arms. "A man of steel."

"So you went after a metahuman alone?" I practically yelled at him. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't know what he was," Barry groaned as he sat up. "Besides, you were off duty."

I scoffed at the lame excuse.

"You're lucky he didn't knock out your teeth," Cisco said. "Those puppies don't grow back."

"Strange thing is I feel like I knew him."

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked.

Barry shook his head. "He said something that was familiar. But he's gonna hurt someone if we don't stop him. So how do we fight a guy that's made of steel?"

"We will find a way," Wells said. "Tonight, you heal."

"Yeah," Barry said as he laid back down.

------>

The next day, Barry told us that the metahuman who beat him up was a guy named Tony Woodward, who bullied him as a kid.

"Your childhood nemesis is now an unstoppable metahuman. That is seriously messed up," Cisco said.

"I had a childhood nemesis," Caitlin added. "Lexi La Roche, she used to put gum in my hair."